Jasmine Potter and the Gundam Prince: Book 1
by DuoJasmineMaxwell
Summary: Duo Maxwell and the Gundam boys are assigned to watch Jasmine Potter. What are our favorite pilots and female potter going to do this summer? Duo/Fem!Harry. Slight Dumbledore/McGonagall bashing. Abused!Jasmine. warning, Jasmine will be slightly different than Harry. May seem like a Mary Sue at first, but she is not. you will see this later on in the story.
1. Chapter 1

**No one P.O.V**

Jasmine blew her long black bangs up and out of her face, while looking closely out of the window to try and get an idea of where she was. After getting a decent idea of where she was, she turned back to look at her friends.

It was the end of her fifth year, and it had only been two weeks since Sirius had fallen through the veil. As that thought crossed her mind Jasmine let out another soft, pain filled sigh. Focusing once again on her friends, Jasmine couldn't help but smile softly. They were her first friends, and were loyal to the point of putting their lives in danger. Noticing her gaze, Hermione sent a worried look her way, attempting to be subtle.

Hermione had been constantly worrying about her, thinking she would accidentally hurt herself. Jasmine mentally shook her head at that thought, she may have been extremely upset, but Sirius wouldn't want her to be upset about his death, he'd probably wanted to go down fighting Voldemort anyway, Jasmine absently thought.

Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat, she tried to get some sleep before she went back to her aunts` and uncles`…

Jasmine woke up to the feel and sound of Ron shaking her shoulder and softly saying her name to wake her up. She stood up and gently stretched, then reached up and took the handle of her trunk from Ron. Wheeling it around and dragging it after her, Jasmine walked behind Hermione, with Ron ending their little line.

Walking up to Mad Eye, Dumbledore, Remus, and the Weasley clan, Jasmine stopped and dropped her trunk to the ground, waiting for what they were all going to say. Catching Remus' eye, he smiled softly at her. Jasmine smiled back at him then turned her attention to Dumbledore.

Giving her a grandfatherly smile, Dumbledore asked her, "Jasmine, my Girl, now that the news of Voldemort is out, and his Death Eaters don't have to be so subtle and inactive, I've taken it upon myself to find proper protection for you. I did not hire any wizarding people, however I did hire some very qualified muggle soldiers. They are known as the Gundam Pilots." Upon hearing the names of her personal guards, Jasmine looked up sharply. Tilting her head to the side and raising her eyebrow, Jasmine asked, " And just how do you expect them to watch me, seeing as my uncle was a major supporter of OZ when they still ran?" Dumbledore chuckled knowingly, the twinkle in her eyes coming back full force. " My girl, I knew about that, and I've already taken the privilege to invest in both a car, and a house for both you and the pilots to live in, so that you will constantly be guarded and safe." Jasmine bit her lip, nodded and sighed, saying, " Alright, if you think that's the best way to go at this then fine, I'll accept it." Jasmine let a big smile stretch across her face, the dreaded "Potter smile" coming across her face. "So, when are they going to sit up and walk over from their seats on the bench behind us?"

**Duo's P.O.V**

"So, when are they going to sit up and walk over from their seats on the bench behind us?" When I heard that, I wanted to burst out laughing. Catching the shocked faces of the adults she was talking to just made that urge double. Catching Heero`s approving face, we all looked at each other, nodded simultaneously, got up, and walked over to the adults.

Once we reached them and stopped, Jasmine, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Heero, and I all took the chance to introduce ourselves. At least we tried to. As soon as Wufei opened his mouth to start, she started listing off our names and Gundam numbers. " Trowa Barton, Pilot to Heavy Arms, Pilot 03. Quatre Winners, Pilot to Sand Rock, Pilot 04. Heero Yuy, Pilot to Gundam Wing, Pilot 01. Wufei Chang, pilot to Nataku, Pilot 05. And Duo Maxwell, Pilot to Death Scythe, Pilot 02." All of the adults, once again looked at her with shock, while we gave her an appraising look. This time when I saw their faces however I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Sadly, that shook them all out of their shock.

Turning to us, Dumbledore said, " Well, would anyone like to make formal introductions?" Quatre nodded and stepped forward first , saying, " It's a pleasure to meet you Jasmine. As you know, My name is Quatre Winner" Holding out his hand to shake, Jasmine accepted and smile at him. Next came Trowa. " My names Trowa Barton, as you know." nodding at her , the girl nodded back with another smile. The same process as with Trowa repeated with Heero. Then came Wufei. " My name is Chang Wufei" he said shortly. Jasmine gave him another smile and said something to him in Chinese, to softly for anyone but Wufei to hear. His eyes widened, then he relaxed and nodded gratefully to her. Finally, I thought to myself as I straitened up and grinned, saying, " Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie."

At this she grinned, a slightly psychotic look on her face and said, " Jasmine Potter's the name, pranking is the game." As the girl said that, and anguished cry came from one Remus Lupin accompanied by a, "Dear God, they're going to burn down the forest and destroy the town, evacuate everyone before it's to late." I looked at him in confusion, wondering what in the world was going on. Five minutes later when he finally managed to calm down, enough to be semi coherent , I finally made out a, " That-that look is always the one James would get on his face before he almost blew up half of the castle. And that was with Dumbledore around to watch him. Imagine what those two will manage with no one to watch them."

By the time he was finished, all of the Adults had the same horrified looks on their faces, completely drained of blood. Jasmine however was laughing, this time with a definite psychotic edge to her voice. When the adults noticed that, they started to tremble slightly.

Half an hour later, everyone had finally managed to compromise. In exchange for not killing anyone or razing cities and forests to the ground, Jasmine would be taught by the Dumbledore man next school year. Having finished that very enlightening conversation, us five pilots plus one Jasmine, walked over to the car we were using, and set off to the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**No One's POV**

About a half hour into the drive to their new house, Jasmine fell asleep, and the Gundam boys had their chance to finally observe her with out her noticing. She had thick, long black hair with a blue sheen to it, emerald green eyes, thick sooty eyelashes, pale skin and rosy cheeks, and a lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead.

From what they had noticed of her earlier was that she was mischievous: all of the adults were terrified when they saw how well Jasmine and Duo got along, and the looks on their faces. She was extremely knowledgeable: she knew what all of their names were, and the names of their gundams. That was all that they knew about her, besides what they had in the folder about her that they were given at the beginning of the job assignment.

Two more hours later they arrived at the house. As soon as they had entered the gravel driveway, Jasmine woke up. As the car stopped, all the doors unlocked, and they all climbed back out, stretching their legs on the way. Heero walked forward, took a set of keys out of his pocket, and unlocked the door.

All of them stepped up onto the porch, and filed in to the house.

**Jasmine's POV**

When we entered the house, I looked around. The floors were a hard wood cherry finish, and the walls were a creamy tan. The entryway I was in was a long hallway, having several offshoots to various rooms in the downstairs. There was also a wrought iron staircase against the right wall. Looking at the hallway, I turned towards the stairs, to find my room and put my things away.

Once I had reached the top of the stairs, I turned to the left , and saw doors with different names on them, Mine was at the very end, past all of the boys, which I'm quite sure wasn't a coincidence. I entered the door with my name on it, and entered, feeling a little stunned.

All of the furniture were a chocolate brown matching set, simple yet elegant. There was a queen sized bed frame, a night stand, dresser, and a stand to put makeup or hair accessories on. The floor was a cherry finish like downstairs, with a thick, creamy white rug under the bed. The actual bed set was a light powder blue with dark brown sheets and flowers patterns on it. The walls were the same blue as the comforter.

Turning ti one of the two other doors in the room, I opened one of them and looked inside, only to be shocked again. It was a huge walk in closet, with floor to ceiling racks straining with clothing, and hooks were almost no visible under scarves and purses.

In the middle of the room, sitting on the floor was an envelope. Walking over and opening it, I read,

"My Dear Girl,

Hello my girl. As you can see, all of the things you need have already been provided for. I know it's not much, and I don't think I'll ever make up for it all the way, But I'd like to start trying to make up for the last fifteen years, and I'll start by trying to give you what you've missed growing up.

From,

Albus Dumbledore"

I couldn't help but smile at the letter. At least he was trying to make it better, even if he went about it the wrong way. Closing the door, I went out to check on the last room.

It was a full bathroom, complete with a shower, bath, and toilet. All to myself.

Going back to the main room, I checked the clock hanging on my wall. It read five O'clock. Time to go think of what to make for dinner, I thought, closing my door, and heading down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Jasmine P.O.V**

After exiting my room, and checking the clock, finding it was already 5 o'clock , I decided to go downstairs and start making dinner for all of us. I'd already reached the welcoming room by the time I had finished deciding to make dinner, I pushed open the door to the living room and poked my head in.

All of the boys had gathered on the couches. "Is there anything in particular that you guys want for dinner?" I asked. They all looked up, but it was Quatre who answered, "You don't have to make any-" , "Ooh, do you know how to make taco salad?" In the middle of Quatre`s sentence, Duo had cut him off. Hearing what Duo had said, I couldn't help but laugh, answering back, "Yes Duo, I know what it takes to make taco salad. Is everyone fine with that? If not, I could always make more than one thing." All of them exchanged looks and simultaneously said, " Taco salad is fine." Nodding, I pulled my head back and made my way to the kitchen.

**Duo P.O.V**

Hearing that she knew how to cook taco salad was a surprise. I had thought that English people didn't really know how to make Mexican food, which is to bad for them. I resolved to quiz her on what foods she could and couldn't make. We might of just lucked out and gotten a free chef for the summer. As if hearing what I was thinking, Quatre turned and looked at me saying, " Duo, you better not be thinking about how we can use her cooking for us for the summer to your advantage. You better not make a list of what you want her to cook either." Two thoughts crossed my mind at that moment. 1) How the hell can this guy read my mind, and 2) that's a really good idea Quatre.

Pushing myself up, I walked to the door, set on seeing how Jasmine was doing. I looked over my shoulder on the way there and answered, " Yeah, yeah Quatre. I know not to do something like that…. Right now." I had said the first part loudly, muttering the second part so Quatre wouldn't go on another of his " be polite and respectful" talks. They were almost as bad as Wufei`s justice rants. Finally reaching the door to the kitchen, I slowly and quietly pushed it open and walked in.

Jasmine hadn't gotten very far yet. Still Pulling everything she would need out of the pantry and shelves. Clearing my throat and making myself known, Jasmine turned around and tilted her head to the side, a clear questioning look on her face. I grinned, rolling my sleeves up and headed to the sink to wash my hands. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. She grinned back at me and said, "Sure, you can open the cans and get out the plates, glasses, and forks if you want." I nodded, and started on the first of the cans. Realizing I needed somewhere to put the contents, I got a couple bowls out an d dumped them in their own bowls. While I was doing that, Jasmine started on the meat.

**Jasmine P.O.V**

I had finished finding most of what I would need to make the taco salad when I heard someone clear their throats behind me. Looking up, I found myself looking at Duo. When I tilted my head to the side, he grinned and walked over to the sink and started washing his hands. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked. On the inside, I was shocked. Outside of the wizarding world, no one had ever paid any attention to me, let alone offered to help me, but on the outside I grinned back at him, saying, " Sure, you can open the cans and get out the plates, glasses and forks." Duo nodded and started opening the cans, stopped, got a bowl and then went back to opening them. While he was doing that, I had started on the meat. Opening the package putting it in the pan, and let it cook. While it was doing that, I started to cut up the lettuce and tomato. I finished with that quickly and expertly, put them in the bowls, then went and checked on the meat. Seeing that the area of meat against the pan had turned a nice brown, I moved the meat so that it had the red meat at the bottom. I walked over to the spice cabinet, and pulled out the chili pepper and the garlic salt. Sprinkling a good amount of them both on the top, I mixed it and put some more on the bottom. Two minutes later, I found that it had finished cooking thoroughly. Pulling it off of the stove and setting with everything Duo had already put on the island, I got out the milk and a thing of juice, out it on the table, and called all of the boys in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Jasmine's POV**

Waking up the next morning, I laid in my bed, reflecting over all that had happened in the past few weeks. Sirius died, I finally found out about the prophecy between Voldemort and myself, finishing school, meeting the Gundam Pilots, and now, living with them.

After reminiscing over everything that had happened, I looked over at the alarm clock. It read 6:30, If I had too make breakfast for all of them, it would take about 45 minutes to an hour to get batter for pancakes, sausages, hash browns, eggs, and orange juice. Pulling myself up, I brushed my teeth and hair, then looked through my closet.

Walking into the closet, I flipped the switch. Before bed the night before, I had gone through and color coordinated each section. One for shirts, another for pants, dresses and skirts. There were also hooks to hang all accessories on. I settled on a pair of brown, 3-inch high cowgirl styled boots, some dark skinny jeans tucked into them, and a three quarter length shirt with brown embroidered flowers on the neckline. I decided not to wear a jacket yet, seeing as I wouldn't be going outside yet.

Heading downstairs, I started getting all I would need to make a full breakfast and started to cook.

**No One's POV**

Upstairs all of the boys woke up to a delicious scent wafting up the stairs from down in the kitchen. Some of them calmly got up, got dressed, and walked down the stairs, albeit more enthusiastically than usual. Some others (Duo) jumped up and threw on the nearest clothing, then raced down the stairs.

Entering the kitchen the boys saw the table covered in freshly made food, including pancakes, toast, hash browns, eggs, milk, and orange juice. At each seat, there was a plate, a knife, fork, napkin, and a glass. Standing by the sink and washing the pots and pans, was Jasmine, she looked at them, then waved at the table, saying, "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to eat something?"

All the boys hurriedly grabbed their plates, and piled them up, then waited for Jasmine to sit down and fill hers. After she had, they were all about to dig in when an owl flew in and dropped a package and letter in Jasmines' waiting hands.

Opening it then reading it Jasmine paled drastically. Heero, noticing it decided to see what was wrong. Taking the letter from her unresponsive hands, he read it aloud.

"My Dear girl,

Jasmine, I've decided to send these books to you and your guards, for them to learn more about you, and for you to start healing all of your old wounds. Maybe it will give you something to do in your spare time this summer too."

From,

Albus Dumbledore


	5. Chapter 5

**-I would like to say that none of the following content belongs to me, besides Jasmine.**

**No One's POV**

After Heero read the note, it was silent in the kitchen. All of the Gundam boys were looking at Jasmine, a mixture of suspicion and pity on all of their faces. Duo, however had a cold, angry look on his face too, like he knew what the note had been talking about.

"Jasmine, what was that note talking about?" Even Duo's voice had a cold quality.

All of them shared looks, and then they all moved over and into the large sitting room, taking seats and perches on the couches and chairs.

Jasmine bit her lip, looking away, and trying not to cry. All of the boys looked at each other then at the books. Seemingly, as if they could read each others minds, Heero picked up the books, found the one that said year one, and cracked it open.

"**The Girl Who Lived" **Heero read, **" Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense"**

Duo made both a face and sound of disgust , while Quatre nodded in agreement, adding, "Life would be so dull without some strange and mysterious things" Trowa, being the quiet person he was, gave no response, simply nodded.

"**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills, and a starch supporter of both Oz and the Alliance. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, though he did have a large mustache."**

"How attractive," Duo said sarcastically, while none of the others said anything, all of them had a green tint to their faces though.

"**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning ever garden fences, spying on their neighbors."**

"Ooh, now doesn't that sound like the perfect cookie-cutter family to you? The husband that works, and the stay at home housewife?" Duo now had a look of immense boredom on his face, like just reading about normality almost killed him.

" **The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere."**

"Small? No finer boy anywhere? I know their opinion on him, but I doubt very much that the fat lump was ever small." Jasmine nodded her head, as if agreeing with her statement, and the pilots wondered why she was so confident about what she said.

"**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest hear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters"**

There was a sudden scream of rage, and they all looked to see Jasmine standing with an extremely angry look on her face. They could only hear a few of the hissed out words, but what they could hear they found immensely disturbing. "why they" "frogs" "slime" "hair" and "colors". Wufei, who was sitting near her, slowly inched away, a look of unease on his face. After Jasmine had calmed from boiling to simmering, they started to read again.

"**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be."**

"UnDersleyish isn't even a word, the stupid mindless people they are wouldn't know of course." Heero spoke for the first time, both his voice and face were emotionless.

"**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the potters had a small daughter, too, but they had never even seen her. This girl was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that."**

Duo nodded sagely, mentioning offhand, "Hm, seems like they finally got something right, I wouldn't want any child of mine mixing with a troublemaker like that either." Jasmine knew, however, that he was joking because of the mischievous look in his eyes, and that when she smiled at him, she got one in return.

" **When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up that dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,"**

"Tch, there's no such thing as an exciting tie. All of them are boring." Mentioned a certain Shinigami, and Jasmine giggled, "Oh, you'd be surprised. You should see some of the things I've seen in the wizarding world, they give exciting a whole new meaning." All of the others shared knowing smiles, they could see what was going on between the two, even if they themselves couldn't.

"**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window."**

Jasmine mad a sound of disgust. She knew that they were quite stupid, she had seen it everyday, but really, this was too much even for them. All the others wondered once again just why she said so many bad things about them, and seemed to hate them so much.

"**At half passed eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the wall. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dudley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive." **

This time it was all of them that showed disgust at how the Dursleys acted. They all knew that it was unhealthy to treat a child like that, it would only ensure that they never grew up, and they would probably grow up as a bully too.

"**It was the on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to look again."**

" Once again, so stupid" Three guesses who that was.

"**There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light."**

"So eager for normality" Duo snorted. "Yes, and if you don't let me read at least a paragraph before commenting, you will regret it" Heero spoke, glaring at Duo, as if daring him to say one more thing. Duo opened his mouth, but seemed to think better of it as Heero's glare intensified.

"**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive- no, **_**looking**_** at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or**_** signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day."**

"Can I speak now, your majesty?" Duo said sarcastically. Heero didn't even dignify his question with an answer, simply nodded. As soon as he did, Duo was rattling off a question to Jasmine. "Is your uncle always so boring, or have you managed to change him?" Jasmine shook her head, saying, "Nope" and popping the p.

"**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes- the getups you saw on young people!"**

"What's wrong with the way "young people" dress?" Quatre asked with an offended look on his face, while looking at his own clothing. Jasmine laughed and said, "Nothing is wrong with how you or anyone here dresses, he just doesn't think that anything other than mind numbingly normal things are supposed to exist."

" **He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak!"**

Jasmine made a small sound of approval, emerald green was an excellent color, in fact she had found an old cloak of her mothers just the color, and had it sitting up in her trunk upstairs right now.

"**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley"**

Jasmine once again looked up, a dreamy and excited look on her face. All of the sudden that look turned slightly sadistic and she gasped, "Oooh, what do you think struck him? I hope it was nice, sharp and heavy. Perhaps a rock, or another car?" Duo shook his head though, and said, "It would be best if a mobile suit fell on the car, though I doubt that's what happened since he's still alive." Jasmine and Duo both nodded at the same time, with identical sad, and put out looks on their faces. All of the others meanwhile had backed away, even Heero had inched away a little.

"**The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt- these people were obviously collecting for something….yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. **

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He**_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl speed overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning"**

"Boring" Drawled two of our favorite mischief makers.

"**He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch time , when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk"**

Everyone in the room heard a loud thump, and looked down to see a very shocked and fearful looking Jasmine, who stammered "W-what's going on? Why's t-this happening?" Heero spared her a glance, along with the other shocked pilots, and read on.

"**Walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery."**

There was a sigh from Jasmine along with a relieved look. "The world is right again.( So over done, but so accurate a reaction!)

"**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying. **

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

"**-yes, their daughter , Jasmine-"**

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead"**

Once again, there was a disturbing sounding giggle coming from a certain emerald eyed raven haired girl, and the boy's had learned by now to ignore it. It still creeped them out though.

"**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and storked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid."**

Jasmine smirked, a smug look on her face as she spoke offhandedly, "So the fat lump has finally admitted it to himself, eh?" The others wondered, not for the first time just why she hated her relatives so much.

"**Potter wasn't such an unusual name."**

"Maybe not in the muggle world, but in the magical, I'm the last one to carry the potter name." Jasmine spoke this bitterly and resentfully.

"**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a daughter called Jasmine. Come to think of it, e wasn't even sure his niece **_**was**_** called Jasmine"**

"How positively rude of him, not even knowing the name of his own niece, why I have over thirty, and I know all of their names." Quatre fumed, while Jasmine laughed gratefully saying, "Thanks Quatre, but I don't let that bother me anymore, besides I still don't know if he's positive about what my name is." Jasmine however, didn't notice the discreet angry looks that the pilots sent each other as soon as she wasn't paying attention.

"**He'd never even seen the girl. It might have been Jacey. Or Josephine. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her- if **_**he'd**_** had a sister like that but all the same, those people in the cloaks. **

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone at the front door.**

"**Sorry," he grunted."**

Another gasp of surprise echoed through the room this made by them all except Wufei and Heero, though even their eyes had visibly widened in disbelief.

"**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off."**

As soon as Heero had finished the sentece, Jamine burst out laughing, and when she saw their questioning looks, she managed to choke out, "I can just see his face when that happened! He always goes red and bloated when embarrassed or angry!" At this Duo and Quatre burst out laughing too, while Wufei, Trowa, and Heero all had small smiles. As soon as they had finished laughing, the reading went on.

"**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination."**

This time, it was both Duo and Jasmine who had cold, disgusted looks on their faces. "That," Duo intoned, "Is completely and utterally unforgivable." The others rolled their eyes at their dramatics while Jasmine nodded frantically at Duo's verdict.

"**As he pulled into ****the driveway of nuber four, the first thing he saw-and it didn't improve his mood-was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes."**

Jasmine gasped. There was an expression on her face caught between betrayal and happiness, though when asked, she said nothing.

"**Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move, it just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Nest door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last reports on the evening news:**

All of the people in the rooom leant foreward, to catch the news report, and just what was so important about it.

"**And finally, bird watchers everywhere have reported that the nations owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt a night and are hardly seen in the daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight Jim?"**

Jasmine gasped at that, squealing, "I know Ted! He's Tonks dad." At the boys questioning looks, Jasmine added, "Tonks is one of the order members. They try to take down Voldemort."

"**Well Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, that they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight.**

"**last but not least, we have a reprasentative form Oz here today to speak about what they are…"**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters….**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared hid throat nervously. "Er-Petunia, dear- you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

Jasmine had a confused look on her face, and when asked what she was thinking, answered absently, " I'm just trying to understand why my mother even tried to get along with her." Quatre nodded, and said, " It may seem like that, but I know what she was thinking. When me and my sister's get into a fight, I always try to at least apologize."

"**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister."**

At this, Quatre looked extremely angry, and huffed, "Actually Jasmine, I agree with you. That woman is monstrous! She's not even making an effort to reconnect with your mother, does she even have a reason?" Jasmine shook her head no, "I haven't heard a reason besides the classic 'she was a good for nothing freak'."

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls…. Shooting stars…. And there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…." **

"_**So?**_**" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

"**Well, I thought… maybe… it was something to do with you know… her crowd."**

"What do they mean _her crowd?_" Trowa asked. "Well, they mean witches and wizards. To them, we're less than human, and good for nothing." Came Jasmines nonchalant reply.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their daughter- she'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't she?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. **

"**What's her name again? Josephine, isn't it?"**

"**Jasmine. Nasty, common name, if you ask me.**

"First of all, no one asked you, you hag. And second, Jasmine isn't a common or nasty name. I for one, think it's beautiful, and fits you great." This came from an indignant Duo towards the flustered Jasmine, while all of the others in the room shared knowing smiles.

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Durlsey crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

"Hey Jasmine earlier, you looked pretty upset when you heard about the cat? Why exactly?" "Well, I'll explain at the end of this chapter okay?" Duo, who had asked the question, nodded to show that he accepted the reply.

"**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind…. He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on- he yawned and turned over- it couldn't affect **_**them…**_

**How very wrong he was"**

_I wish he was right_**, **Jasmine thought desperately, _then I could have been put with someone on the wizarding side of the family….. I certainly have enough extended cousins there_**….**

"**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cats tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long rodes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.**

"Well," drawled Jasmine, there's only one person in the world that could be. At this she received questioning looks and Quatre cautiously asked, "What exactly do you mean by that?" While Duo came out and boldly asked, "Who tha hell are ya talking about?" Jasmine giggled and said, "Who do you think would ever wear something like that?" "The weird guy who hired us?" SMACK "Duo, Watch your mouth!" _( Three guesses who!)_

"**His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albu Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.**

Duo tilted his head to the side and said, "Ya know, it seems to me from when I met him, that he knows, just doesn't care. Jasmine nodded, and said, "Oh you're right, he probably did and didn't care.

"**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for somethin. But ha did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarrete lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again- the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their windows now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement."**

A whistle came from Jasmine, who knew just how strong Mrs. Dursley's eyes were when she was trying to spy on others and get good gossip.

"**Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one.**

"No offence, but whats up with you people and cloaks?" Jasmine tilted her head to the side and slowly answered, "Well, its just what we wear. Kind of like trainers here, you know? A very common trend." All of them nodded in understanding.

"**Her black hair was drawn in a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled."**

This earned both a whistle and a look of shock from Jasmine. What stress had she gone through to turn her hair the gray it was now? After a moment of pondering, she remembered. The Weasley Twins probably, actually, that was the most likely answer.

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no- even the muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent- I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"I've met Dedalus before. He was a nice man, if not a little niave." "You've met him before?" "Yep," Jasmine mused, "He bowed to me in a shop, and he shook my hand in the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Way, the magical street."

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

Heero's eyebrows furrowed, and he spoke, "Isn't that a breach of security or against the law?" "Well, yes. You can be formally brought before a court and tried for that. Fined or suspended too." "Isn't there a prison or something." Jasmine shook her head, and answered, "No, the only prison the wizarding world has is for the societies worst. Murders and such." "Whats it like?" This time, the question came from Duo. "That, prison is horrible. They have Dementors. Creatures that suck all happiness out of you. Most people go insane within weeks, months, though some last a few years without completely losing it. Now many though" All of them nodded, pondering the Dementors Jasmine had mentioned.

"**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has**_** gone, Dumbledore?"**

"**It would certainly seem so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"**A **_**what**_**?"**

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

Jasmine shook her head, smiling. "Only Dumbledore would bring something like that up in a conversation… Though they're not that bad," she mused thoughtfully.

"**No thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has **_**gone**_**-"**_

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his propername: **_**Voldemort**_**." Professor McGanagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

Jasmine nodded sagely, answering, "Exactly. Fear of a name increases fear itself."

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know-Who-, oh all right, **_**Voldemort **_**, was frightened of."**

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

Jasmine snorted unlady like, and spoke, "Of course, he's simply too noble to use them."

"**Only because you're too- well- **_**noble **_**to use them."**

Jasmine, frowned and said, "I don't know whether to be awed, flattered, or scared that I said the same thing that she did." "Why would you be scared?" Wufei asked with a brow arched. Jasmine simply stared at him for a minute or two, then, "you've never met Professor McGonagall, you wouldn't know. She's the strictest women I've ever met."

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfreytold me she liked my new earmuffs."**

All of the teenagers had disgusted, green looks on their faces, and Duo said, "I really don't want to get old now." while Jasmine was muttering, "I really, really never, ever wanted to hear anything like that, especially coming from them."

"**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors**_** that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not goingto believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true." **

Jasmine was frowning and said, "I really respect him, but some people just take his word as law. The wizarding world is actually rather like a flock of sheep. Mindless and just following the sheperd. They should try and form an opinion on their on."

"**Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. **

"**What they're **_**saying,**_**" she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are- are- that they're- **_**dead.**_**"**

At this all of them looked at Jasmine, who had her head down and was sniffling. Duo got up and moved next to her, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. At this Jasmine broke down, sobbing against his shoulder. About half an hour later, Jasmine pulled up, her eyes red and slightly puffy. She nodded shakily and they started to read again.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…" **

"**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily. **

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' daughter, Jasmine. But- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little girl. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Jasmine Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke- and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

"**It's- it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed…. He couldn't kill a little girl."**

At this, Jasmine had a severely offended look on her face. "It almost sounds like she wishes that I was dead," she complained, "You'd think that she'd be celebrating that one of her pupils family were still alive, but no."

"**It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Jasmine survive?"**

"**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in bhis pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Jasmine to her aunt and uncle. They're the only family she has left now."**

Jasmine laughed bitterly, and said, "You know, sometimes I hate him. He left me in hell for eleven years. And the no other family thing was a lie. My grandmother was Dorea Black, and there are still a few Blacks left, one's even on Dumbledore's side. Yet he still insisted on leaving me there." The others frowned, wondering what she meant by hell, and why Dumbledore would leave her with the aunt and uncle if she did have other relatives.

"**You don't mean- you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Jasmine Potter come and live here!"**

"**It's the best place for her," said Dumbledore firmly. "Her aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to her when she's older. I've written them a letter."**

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand her! She'll be famous- a legend- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Jasmine Potter day in the future-**

All the gundam pilots suddenly saw a black, dark blue, and pink blur run in front of them. When their eyes focused again they saw Jasmine kneeling in front of the fireplace, her head in the green fire. Quatre, who was the closest to the fireplace, raced over and started to pull her out. Then he saw that the fire wasn't burning anything, so he cautiously sat back, keeping his hands close just in case.

Forty-five minutes later, Jasmine pulled her head out of the fire, a relieved look on her face. When Heero demanded to know what 'her foolish female mind' had been thinking, she grinned and said, "I asked Dumbledore and it turns out that they don't have a Jasmine Potter day, though he said that they tried to push it through." Jasmine still had a bright smile, and the boys were realizing just how famous Jasmine was in that world.

"**-there will be books written about Jasmine- every child in our world will know her name!"**

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the topof his half moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any girl's head."**

Jasmine and most of the Gundam boys had developed a twitch in their eyes. "That" said Duo. "Was" said Trowa. "His" said Quatre. "REASON!" shouted them all.

"**Famous before he can even walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off she'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes- yes, you're right of course."**

"I'm so having a talk with the both of them I see them next," Jasmine hissed with an angry look on her face. "About what?" Duo asked, confused. "For Dumbledore, going through with things for the greater good, and for McGonagall, being so meek and submissive about everything."

" **But how is the girl getting here, Dumbledore" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Jasmine underneath it.**

"**Hagrid's bringing her."**

"**You think it-**_**wise-**_** to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I trust Hagrid with my life," Jasmine spoke, an extremely trusting expression on her face when she remembered all that Hagrid had done for her over the years.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to- what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky- a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_**- long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets."**

"What's he holding?" Jasmine inquired, with a blank, out of it look on her face (_I_ _do this sometimes, total blank out_!) This received several incredulous looks from all of the others. Jasmine kept the blank, confused look on her face for several moments before a light bulb finally seemed to appear above her head.(_It took me like ten minutes to understand what someone meant when they said something was as straight as a rainbow, I was like, "How can something be as straight as a rainbow, a rainbow is curved.")_

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him sir."**

At this, a nostalgic look flitted across Jasmine's face before the same slightly guarded expression was back in place.

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir- house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. She fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over her forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where-?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

Jasmine had a hopefull look on her face, her head having jerked up fast enough that she should have had whiplash. Though, the next words read whiped it right off of her face.

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well- give her here, Hagrid- we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Jasmine in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I- could I say good-bye to her, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Jasmine and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it- Lily an' James dead- an' poor little Jasmine off ter live with Muggles-"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid,"**

"Ok," Jasmine growled, "I hate those who bury themselves in self pity, but really. My parents just died, and I was orphaned, couldn't she show a little more compassion?"

**"or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Jasmine gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Jasmine's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shown from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out."**

"**Well,"said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

Once again, the boys observed a dark look flit quickly through Jasmines emerald hued eyes, though if they hadn't trained as professional soldiers and infiltrators, they would have never noticed.

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'd best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall- Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

"**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air adn off into the night. **

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets ant he step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Jasmine," He murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone."**

All of them had a look of interest on their faces when they heard that, and you could see a hungry light on their faces, Heeros especially.

**"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would ever expect asronishing things to happen. Jamsine Potter rolled over inside her blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside her and she slapt on, not knoing that she was special, not knowing that she was famous, not knwing that she would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that she would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by her cousin Dudley... She couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Jasmine Potter- the girl who lived!"**

As Heero finished reading the last sentence, all of the room and its occupants were silent, the silence onyl broken to decide who would be the one to read the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again, none of the following content belongs to me, except Jasmine and some of the added parts of the story. Warning, since Jasmine is a girl, I think that her family is going to treat her a little differently than if she had been born as Harry, so there **_**will **_**be added parts.**

"Who wants to read this time?" Heero intoned in monotone. "Ooh, pick me, pick me!" Duo yelped, excitedly jumping up and down. Seeing his response, Heero simply stared at him, and watched him jump and down. After five minutes of this, Duo finally having taken notice that Heero had never replied to his request/demand, finally looked at them. All of them, excluding Jasmine, were staring at him with exasperated expressions, while Jasmine had her hands covering her mouth, and Duo could hear muffled giggles slipping through the cracks in her fingers. After flashing her a charming, mischievous, grin, he reached over and snatched the book out of Heero's hand, and quickly flipped to the right page.

"**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their niece on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all."**

"Ew, I knew that they were obsessed with everything boring and all, but that is taking it too far." One guess who that came from. If you've chosen our favorite Shinigami (Sorry Ukitake and Toshiro!) then you win this congratulations!

"**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another child, a girl, lived in the house, too."**

"Once again, what does it mean when it talks about you with all these mysterious, kinda creepy hints?" Though Duo was the one to voice the thought, all the others sent Jasmine the same exact suspicious stares, though Quatre also had a hint of rage, pity, and _knowing _in his eyes. That was what scared her the most, Jasmine decided. It was like he knew what had gone on in that house, like he knew what she felt and went through.

**"Yet Jasmine Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Her Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day."**

"Aw," surprisingly Wufei moaned sympathetically. "It's horrible to be awoken by irritating noises the first thing in the morning." Though he kept looking straight forward, Jasmine could notice that the "happy" smile on his face had a violent edge in it, and at the sound of a snicker, Jasmine looked over to Duo to see that he had a sharks grin on his face, though it was quickly replaced by one of complete angelic innocence. None of the others even bothered to react to either of them, too used by now to the antics of the two.

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

**Jasmine woke up with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Jasmine heard her walk up the stairs again to quickly check to make sure her "Dudley-kins" was up and ready for his big day. Quickly, before her aunt could even leave her cousins room, Jasmine jumped up and started to get dressed, though it was hard because there was no light in her room. After kneeling down, and getting a pair of socks from under her bed, Jasmine brushed the spiders off of them, and put them on. Any regular girl would probably run screaming at the sight of a spider, but Jasmine was used to them, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them. And that was where she slept."**

After Duo read the paragraph, there was no noise at all throughout the entire house. Then, the silence seemed to explode in feelings and voices of complete rage. All around Jasmine she could feel and hear the screams and threats the boys were voicing about her aunt and uncle and cousin, but all she wanted right now was for it to stop. She covered her ears to try and block out the noise, thick hot tears of pain and frustration left trails running down her cheeks.

Finally, Jasmine could take it no more and started to scream, "SHUTUP! SHUTUP NOW!" At once, the noise level once again dropped to complete silence, though it wasn't her screams that had stopped them. Her screams had only drawn their attention to her. What had stopped them, was the sight tears streaming down her face and the picture of her rocking back and forth, trying in vain to lock out the noise and feelings of their anger. Still fuming, but holding it in for her sake, they all sat down and once again listened to the story of her life, though when Duo started to read again, there was a tremble of emotion in his voice, and his grip on the book was so tight that his knuckles had drained of all color.

**"After finishing the frustrating and difficult task of dressing with no light, she left her cupboard, Jasmine went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Jasmine, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise- unless, of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Jasmine, but he couldn't often catch her. Jasmine didn't look it, but she was very fast."**

After Duo had read this, Jasmine noticed him inspecting her. Shifting self consciously, Jasmine bit her lip nervously, wishing she had her invisibility cloak with her. After a few more moments, Duo nodded and said, "Whatever stalker wrote this is right. You don't look very fast at all." At this Jasmine forgot all about her nervousness, and instead chose to give Duo the evil eye, huffing, "You know, seeing as I know some pretty nasty tricks and spells, and where you sleep, I'd be very nice to me if I were you." Hearing this, Duo snickered before playing along. Falling off the couch and onto his knees, Duo folded his hands into praying position, wailing, "My Lady, have mercy on my poor self! I'll do anything to receive your forgiveness." Turning her body and head to the side, and tilted her head up into a regal and slightly condescending look, Jasmine sniffed delicately, while ordering, "Fine, this lady will forgive your foolish words, since you have lowered your already low self to beg her." After finishing her declaration, all was silent in the room. The expressions on all of their faces staying the same. Duo's had a "kicked puppy/ I'm begging forgiveness" look while Jasmine possessed the same condescending look. All the others watched with wide, freaked out looks. After three minutes of this, Jasmine and Duo simultaneously burst out laughing, while the others watched in complete bemusement. After catching his breath, Duo started to read again, this time with mirth staining his voice.

"**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard,"**

Goodbye mirth and laughter, Jasmine thought, and hello again anger and killing intent.

"**but Jasmine had always been rather small and slender for her age. She looked even smaller and slenderer than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than she was. Jasmine had a delicate, heart shaped face, knobby knees,"**

Once again, Duo snickered, and Jasmine pouted, puffing out her cheeks slightly, and growled out, "It's not my fault I inherited my fathers side of the families knees. Besides, they're not even knobby anymore." Duo stopped laughing to choke out, "I know your legs aren't knobby anymore, I've seen the-" Duo abruptly cut himself off, blushing and sneaking a glance at Jasmine, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she hadn't noticed his words, and quickly set to reading again. He never noticed his friends plotting looks.

"**Black hair, and bright green eyes. She had gotten soft creamy skin too, and facial features she couldn't explain, since Aunt Petunia didn't have them. Though, she had seen her Aunt look at her face with a mixture of nostalgic longing and jealously at times. She wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times that Dudley had punched her on the nose."**

Really, Jasmine fumed, does this book have to bring up the bad things that have happened to me just as they cheer up again?!

"**The only thing Jasmine liked about her own appearance was a very thin scar on her forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. She had had it for as long as she could remember, and the first question she could even remember asking her Aunt Petunia was how she had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

**It was always better to question Aunt Petunia than Uncle Vernon, Jasmine had learned early on. Aunt Petunia may have been cross, but at least she didn't hit her.**

_**Don't ask questions-**_** that was the first rule for a quiet, painless life with the Dursleys .**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Jasmine was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that jasmine needed a haircut. Jasmine must have had more haircuts than the rest of the girls in her class put together, but it made no difference, her hair simply grew that way- all over the place.**

At this all of the boys looked over, and saw that Jasmines hair was perfectly straight, not a strand of hair out of place. Before any of them could open their mouths to question her, she had already answered with a, "I use a spell every morning before I even leave my room to straighten and contain my hair. If I don't, it stand straight up, even at this length." This earned looks of astonishment from all of the other occupants of the room, and Quatre spoke solemnly, "I truly pity your poor children, if they inherit your hair." Jasmine nodded and laughed, saying, "Oh yeah. The hair is actually known all through out the wizarding world as "The Potters Cursed Hair." every Potter ever born, whether they carried the name or not, were born with it. It's just one of the things unique to our family."

**"Jasmine was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel- Jasmine often thought that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

At this, Most of the boys were at least smiling and laughing, though Quatre had a unsure look on his face, though it finally settled and he sighed, "Well at least you weren't foolish enough to say it aloud. I'll give you points for that." "I don't think I'd ever be that foolish." Jasmine spoke this with a wondering look on her face, and it was obvious that she was wandering how stupid she'd be if she said that aloud, and often. _(I like Harry and all, really, but you have to admit that he does and says things that should sometimes be left unsaid and undone, besides, this is my story, Jasmine is a girl so will be acting differently because she was raised differently.)_

**"Jasmine put the plates of eggs and bacon on the table, after stepping over Dudley's out reaching leg, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

**Well, Jasmine thought in surprise, who new that the smaller beached whale could count?**

**While Jasmine was mentally mocking Dudley, his parents were saying, "Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Jasmine, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down her bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

Once again, it was Quatre who chastised Jasmine over her behavior. "Jasmine, it is impolite and improper to eat things like that!" "Well," Jasmine spoke with a slightly frosty feel to her voice and cold eyes, "They were actually letting me eat. If you were usually forced to watch others eat the food you made, and not get any yourself, wouldn't you take the chance to eat?" Quatre recoiled as if struck, stuttering apologies, while Jasmine sighed tiredly, saying, "No Quatre, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you, it's just..." Quatre nodded, though he still looked extremely apologetic. The others simply watched the argument, not sure how to interfere.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you **_**two**_** presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? **_**Two**_** more presents. Is that alright" **

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly. "So I'll have thirty...thirty..."**

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

**"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Jasmine and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried."**

"Wait, why was she upset?" Trowa asked softly. "Well, she was worried that my freakishness would ruin Dinky Duddydums special day." the way Jasmine said this, made it obvious that she was used to people calling her a freak, and that it didn't affect her any longer. That, or she was just extremely talented at hiding the way it affected her.

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take her." She jerked her head in Jasmine's direction. **

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Jasmine's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Jasmine was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Jasmine hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made her look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"It was horrible." Jasmine whispered in a traumatized voice. "Every you'd look, there were pictures of cats." While she had been speaking, she had started to rock back and forth, and she was trembling, terror painted across her face. Suddenly, she moved back into her lounging position, no remnant of her little flashback-of-terror moment. Jasmine looked at Duo expectantly, as if saying, 'you may continue'.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Jasmine as though she'd planned this. Jasmine knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when she reminded herself it would be a whole year before she had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"What horrible names for those poor cats." Quatre sniffed sympathetically. The others simply nodded and Jasmine added, "None of them could ever compare to Hedwig." Just as Heero opened his mouth to question her, a tapping sound came from near the windows. While all of the Gundam boys jumped into positions to defend her, Jasmine skipped out from behind them and to the window, and proceeded to open it. A large snowy owl flew in and perched on Jasmine's shoulder. Walking back to the still cautious boys she introduced them. "Guys, this is Hedwig. Hedwig, this is Quatre, Trowa, Heero, Wufei, and Duo." Each time she said their name, she would point at them. The owl, now named Hedwig, turned her head so that only her right eye was facing them. She seemed to weigh them all. After several moments she cooed at them and flew over to take a seat on Quatre's shoulder. Seeing the boys open their mouths, Jasmine quickly interrupted " the book will explain, but we'll never finish at this pace."

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the girl."**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Jasmine like this, as though she wasn't there- or, rather, as though she was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend- Yvonne?" **

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Jasmine put in hopefully (she'd be able to watch what she wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Jasmine, even though in the safety of her own mind, she was ranting and raving about how she was the one cleaning the house, they were the ones ruining it. But they weren't listening.**

**"I supposes we could take her to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave her in the car..."**

**"That car's new. she's not sitting in it alone..."**

While they had been reading, Jasmine had closed her eyes and laid her head back against the couch, almost asleep. She roused though, when the reading stopped, and she felt their gaze's on her. Lifting her head, opening her eyes, then raising her brow, she asked them silently what was going on now. They were looking at her no hint of playfulness on their faces. She simply sighed again, and wearily muttered, "There are seven books. I'm sure that my whole life will be explained in them for you to read."

Duo opened his mouth to ask something, before Trowa and Quatre shook their heads no.

"**Dudley began to cry loudly. I fact, he wasn't really crying- it had been years since he really cried- but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"**Dinky Duddydums, don't cry," **

A snort and then, "She got the dums right" "Duo! Now is not the time!"

**Mummy won't let her spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. **

"**I... don't... want... her... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "She always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Jasmine a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang- "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically- and a moment later, Dudley's best fiend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Once had had gone up to Jasmine and said in a squeaky, supposed-to-be-smooth voice, "There's a reason my last name's Pol**_**kiss**_**, wanna find out?" and proceeded to try and kiss her. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Him trying to kiss me was disgusting, I mean whenever I run into Dementors- they make you relieve you worst memory- that's what always come up." Jasmine joked. "Really?" Quatre asked innocently. "Um, no. Not exactly. Though, it was terrifying and disgusting."

"**Half an hour later, Jasmine, who couldn't believe her luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with her, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Jasmine aside.**

**"I'm warning you," He had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Jasmine's, "I'm warning you now, girl- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas, and get the worst beating of your life." **

"They _beat_ you?" Jasmine didn't know who had hissed that, only that they would make a great parcelmouth. _(Sorry, not sure if that's right or not.)_

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Jasmine, "honestly..."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe her. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Jasmine and it was just no good telling the Dursleys she didn't make them happen.**

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Jasmine coming back from the barbers looking as though she hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut her hair into a harsh, plain style just below her ears. If Aunt Petunia didn't think that a buzz cut would be too unladylike, Jasmine was sure that she would now be sporting one. Though, she did leave Jasmines bangs, "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Jasmine, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where she was already laughed at for her baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, she had gotten up to find her hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. She had been given a week in her cupboard and a beating for this, even though she had tried to explain that she **_**couldn't **_**explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force her into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

"Jasmine," Quatre whispered hoarsely, "you were to kind when you called that sweater revolting. That... That is too _disgusting _to even call it revolting..." At this, both Jasmine and Duo just nodded her head in sad agreement, while the others besides Quatre just rolled their eyes.

**The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Jasmine. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to her great relief, Jasmine wasn't punished.**

**On the other hand, she'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing her as usual when, as much to Jasmine's surprise as anyone else's, there she was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Jasmine's headmistress telling them Jasmine had been climbing school buildings. But all she'd tried to do (as she shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of her cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Jasmine supposed that the wind must have caught her in mid-jump. Regardless, that night she received yet another beating, no doubt made worse by her screaming at Uncle Vernon.**

Jasmine, who had been inspecting her nails, looked up when she noticed the silence. "What?" Jasmine asked confused. "'_**The wind must have caught her in mid-jump'" **_They all repeated at the same time, deadpan looks on their faces.

"**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, her cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**while he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Jasmine, the council, Jasmine, the bank, and Jasmine were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. **

"**...roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**At this, jasmine remembered her dream. It was about a flying motorcycle. Jasmine thought about mentioning it, but decided it would be better to remain seen and not heard.**

**Jasmine knew better than that, it had been beaten into her. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than her asking questions, it was her talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon- they seemed to think she might get dangerous ideas.**

"Actually, I get a lot of ideas from cartoons, they're wonderful things." Duo said fondly. Catching Jasmine staring at him, he huffed, and said, "Not that I watch cartoons anymore." "It didn't look like that last week, when you were watching Spongebob." (Once again, I don't own Spongebob or Harry Potter.)

"**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Jasmine what she wanted before they could hurry her away , they bought her a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Jasmine thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

"I actually regret thinking that. Dudley may not be kind to me, but he doesn't try to beat or chase me anymore. He's to scared to now. Besides, that was an extremely rude thing to think, let alone say, about anyone."

**"Jasmine had the best morning she'd had in a long time. She was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting and trying to kiss her. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Jasmine was allowed to finish the first.**

**Jasmine felt, afterwards, that she should have known it was all too good to last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark on there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons."**

"What is it with boys and deadly things?" Jasmine questioned. "Isn't it obvious? They're awesome." Duo answered in a duh voice.

**"Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can- but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge."**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

"He was always so ungrateful," Jasmine grumbled. "I would have_ killed _to go to the zoo for my birthday."

**"Jasmine moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. She wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself- no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitors were Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up and Piers trying to kiss her; at least she got to visit the rest of the house, if only to clean it.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly. it raised its head until its eyes were on level with Jasmine's.**

"He really was a pretty snake, as far as they go at least." Jasmine thought aloud.

"_**It winked."**_

**Jasmine stared. Then she looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. She looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"Wait, you said you didn't know you were a witch until your eleventh birthday?" "Yeah." "..." "Lets just keep reading."

"**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Jasmine a look that said quite plainly:**

"_**I get that all the time." **_

"**I know," Jasmine murmured through the glass, though she wasn't sure the snake could hear her. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"**Where do you come from anyway?" Jasmine asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Jasmine peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Jasmine read on: This specimen was bred in a zoo. "Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Jasmine made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE **_**WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Jasmine in the ribs.**

"What horrible behavior! No man should ever treat a woman like that!" Quatre sputtered, face flushed with anger and eyes glinting. His outburst was received with terse nods of agreement by the others.

**Caught by surprise, Jasmine fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next **

**happened so fast no one saw how it happened- one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Jasmine sat up and gasped; the glass in front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running towards the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly passed her, Jasmine could have sworn a low, hissing voice had said, "Brazil, here I come... thanksss, amiga." **

"He was the most polite snake I've ever met." Jasmine mused. "All the others were too busy trying to eat me to talk." The gundam boys simply exchanged befuddled looks, puzzled about the girls nonchalant attitude about being eaten.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Jasmine had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heals as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Jasmine at least, was piers calming down enough to say, "Jasmine was talking to it, weren't you Jasmine?"**

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Jasmine. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go- cupboard- stay-no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"That fat walrus better not hurt you." Duo hissed dangerously, his eyes darker than his normal purplish/blue shade, and seemingly glowing eerily.

**Jasmine lay in her dark cupboard much late, wishing she had a watch. She didn't know what time it was and she couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn't risk sneaking into the kitchen for some food, bandages, disinfectant, and maybe some pain relievers.**

**She'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as she could remember, ever since she'd been a baby and her parents had died in that car crash. She couldn't remember being in the car when her parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long, usually painful hours in her cupboard, she came up with s strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain in her forehead. This, she supposed, was the crash, though she couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. She couldn't remember her parents at all. Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course she was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"Did you even know what they looked like?" Trowa asked, suddenly looking up. To answer, Jasmine simply shook her head no, seeing no point in elaborating that she hadn't even known their names at that point.

**When she had been younger, Jasmine had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take her away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were her only family. Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know her. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to her once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Jasmine furiously if she knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at her once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Jasmine tried to get a closer look.**

**At school , Jasmine had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd, yet pretty, Jasmine Potter in her baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**


End file.
